Corker warns of Senate 'rebellion' if Mueller is ousted from Russia probe

In this Oct. 30, 2017, photo, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., speaks during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on "The Authorizations for the Use of Military Force: Administration Perspective" on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)
In this Oct. 30, 2017, photo, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., speaks during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on "The Authorizations for the Use of Military Force: Administration Perspective" on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., is warning of a "rebellion" among Senate Republicans if special counsel Robert Mueller is ousted from the probe the former FBI director is leading into possible coordination between President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign and Russian officials.

"I think that Mueller continues," the Chattanooga Republican told the Times Free Press on Wednesday in response to some U.S. House Republicans being critical of Mueller, the FBI and others. "I know there are some people trying to undermine Mueller right now. But on the Senate side, there'd be a rebellion if something happened and he was not there any more."

The senator also declined to offer any predictions on the outcome of Mueller's investigation, which has come under fire from not only Trump but increasingly from some House Republican allies, including Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif.

"I have no knowledge other than what's reported publicly," Corker said.

Asked what a "rebellion" might look like if attempts materialize to get rid of Mueller, Corker said, "I don't know. The president has stated he is not going to fire Mueller. People keep writing as if he's going to fire Mueller. This is one thing they've been adamant about: they're not going to fire Mueller."

The Special Counsel's Office has faced increased scrutiny in recent weeks, with reports about potential political bias within Mueller's team and potential conflicts of interest within the Department of Justice.

Trump said in December he's not considering firing Mueller, but he noted people are upset with the special counsel's move to get thousands of emails from the Trump transition team.

Citing sources, Politico recently reported that a subset of Nunes' committee has gathered behind closed doors for weeks in hopes of building a case that "senior leaders of the Justice Department and FBI improperly - and perhaps criminally - mishandled the contents of a dossier that describes alleged ties between President Donald Trump and Russia."

Politico also reported some committee Republicans' goal is to highlight "corruption and conspiracy in the upper ranks of federal law enforcement" to detail their concerns about the Department of Justice and FBI.

Ultimately, Politico reported, a report might be used by the House Republicans to discredit Mueller's investigation into whether any Trump aides colluded with Russia during the 2016 campaign or to justify Mueller's dismissal.

Corker said "people in the Senate, myself, Lindsey [Graham] and others, I mean everybody I know in the Senate is reinforcing the fact that Mueller being fired is not within the bounds of appropriateness. It's just not.

"I think as far as what's happening in the House, the House is the House and the House deals with things in a very different way than the Senate does," added Corker, who skirmished with Trump repeatedly last year after publicly criticizing the president's response to a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., and policy issues unrelated to the Russia probe.

The senator's comments Wednesday came hours before excerpts from a new book on Trump, "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House," authored by Michael Wolff, became public.

Among other things, the book says former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon called the 2016 Trump Tower meeting between Trump campaign officials and a Russian lawyer purportedly offering damaging information about Hillary Clinton "treasonous."

That triggered a row between Trump and Bannon.

On Thursday, meanwhile, the current House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows, R-N.C., and former Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions should step aside "now," citing the Justice Department's handling of the investigation into Trump's campaign ties to Russian operatives and intelligence leaks to media.

In their joint opinion piece in the Washington Examiner, the current and former leaders of the conservative caucus criticized what they called "manufactured hysteria" over the probe and blamed Sessions, a former U.S. senator from Alabama who has recused himself from the inquiry, for allowing leaks from the investigation to become public.

The lawmakers said that "in spite of the constant headlines, rampant speculation, and overshadowing of accomplishments, a simple truth remains: There is no evidence of any collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians."

They chastised Sessions, saying it "would appear he has no control at all of the premier law enforcement agency in the world" and added it's time for "Sessions to start managing in a spirit of transparency to bring all of this improper behavior to light and stop further violations.

"If Sessions can't address this issue immediately, then we have one final question needing an answer: When is it time for a new attorney general? Sadly, it seems the answer is now."

Contact staff writer Andy Sher at asher@timesfreepress.com or 615-255-0550. Follow him on Twitter @AndySher1.

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